Thursday, September 24, 2009

District 9 is a sci-fi movie produced by Peter Jackson and directed by Neil Blomkamp. It stars Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope and plenty of other actors who are all unknowns. The movie starts off as if in a documentary letting us know how an alien ship arrived over Johannesburg, South Africa and when it opens, aliens were found inside. The mother ship did not seem to operate anymore and as the aliens were in a bad condition, they were taken out and put in shacks directly underneath the mother ship.Many years have now passed and the area below the ship has now become a ghetto called District 9 where all the aliens are kept. We learn that they survive by scavenging and like to eat cat food and that they are looked down upon by all the humans. They are now going to be transferred away from the human population to another pre-prepared settlement further away. In charge of making them all leave is Wikus Van De Merwe(Sharlto Copley). From the early talk in this documentary-style beginning, we realise that something has happened involving Copley that seems to have everyone talking. We cut back to the documentary again and Copley then arrives with MNU members(MNU means Multi-National United) and he proceeds to go door to door in District 9 trying to get the aliens to leave peacefully or else his heavies will make them go to the new settlement.

District 9 started off slowly, just telling us the background of what was happening, but nothing very exciting develops until later in the movie. We see one alien who seems to be cleverer than the others and he seems to have a plan involving mysterious fluid which he has been collecting from the mother ship debris. District 9 gets progressively better as it goes on and ends up with some great action which is very reminiscent of Aliens and Robocop. When you see the movie, you will know why!!!What is also fantastic in the special effects as the alien creatures themselves move seamlessly in the scenery and look very realistic even though they resemble prawns!! The action builds up to a great climax and there are plenty of cars being blown up, amputations and decapitations!

I think that the writer was heavily influenced by movies like Aliens, Robocop and The Fly as one character has his nails falling off as his body is changing like Jeff Goldblum in The Fly.I thought that District 9 was just interesting at first, but it got very exciting towards the end and it's good to see a new sci-fi movie. There are plenty of bodies being literally blown apart and lots of action so if you like that kind of thing, then you will not be disappointed! I would definitelyrecommend District 9 as it is well worth seeing and it leaves the door open for a sequel. Check this out as soon as you can!!!